New Name, New Brand for CCS

This year the CCS Communications & Promotions Committee has been conducting focus groups to find out how people perceive CCS and the impression they get from our newsletters, brochures, website and social media, advertising, posters, etc. Does something like “Reflect. Act. Be transformed.” give people an accurate sense of what the Centre for Christian Studies is about? Do our materials have a “look”, do we need a new logo, are we connecting with the kind of people who might be looking for us?

We invited the folks at Firebrand Marketing Solutions, a firm that has done re-branding work with various organizations and companies, to look at our “CCS brand” and make proposals. Their key suggestion was a name change. (This is not new. As long as CCS has been CCS, its name has been an issue of discussion.) According to Firebrand consultant Donna Draiper, “a name isn’t just about identity, it’s about opportunity.” In this case, an opportunity for collaboration with one of Firebrand’s other clients, the Craven Cola Company™.

“There is a fabulous simpatico between the two organizations. Our research shows that when people think of Craven Cola™ they think – sweet, bubbly, cool, energizing, and different. Your school hits on some of those same metrics. I project real synergistic potential here.”

You will be pleased to know that the Communications Committee flatly rejected Firebrand’s suggestion to change the school’s name to “The Centre for Cola Studies.”

“The Centre for Christian Studies is a name with history and significance for many of our students and alumni,” said principal Maylanne Maybee, quenching her thirst with a frosty can of Diet Craven™, “and not something to be sold to the highest bidder.”

That said, a corporate partnership with Craven Cola™ would mean a significant injection of funding to our operating budget, so a compromise was reached. As of today, April 1st, 2016, the formal and legal name of CCS will be “The Centre for Christian Studies (proudly sponsored by Craven Cola™).”

“Normally we like to take time to think decisions through thoughtfully and prayerfully,” said CCS Central Council co-chair Kathy Platt.

“But for some reason we’re all like, you know, zip, zoom, let’s get this puppy done! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” she said, and she downed her fourth Craven Cola™ of the afternoon.